Worthy is the Lamb

I saw where Olympic superstar Mark Phelps got caught smoking pot. Is this another American hero who is not so heroic anymore? Hmmm All of those lucrative endorsement deals for everything from a bowl of cornflakes to blazing fast Internet service are now in jeopardy and could cost him a hundred million or so.

After all the hoopla and commentary ad nauseum about his amazing skills, Mark Phelps is only human, just like the rest of us. Please don’t join in the condemnation. Disappointment yes, but condemnation, no. The public can clamor that he should be a better role model all they want, but Mark Phelps is subject to the same pressures and temptations of all of society. In fact now that I think about it, with all of his fame and money, he is subjected to far more temptation and pressure than the rest of us can ever begin to imagine. The 23 year old lad did not withstand the heat from the glare of an adoring world and wilted like a daisy in the glare of the sun in the desert in Death Valley California. He is after all a mere human being.

He made a mistake because he is human and therein is the problem for those trying to be a role model or a global superstar. I don’t condemn Mark Phelps for smoking pot, when I was his age I smoked enough of it to create a smog warning alert in Miami for the next six months. Please don’t condemn someone for making a stupid mistake, because you and I have made our mistakes countless times in our lives too. Maybe you did not smoke pot, but trust me we all have bones rattling around in a closet somewhere.

Instead of focusing on Mark, focus on appreciating how remarkable it was for Jesus Christ, who was a man in every sense of the word except for Spirit, to spend forty days in the desert fasting and then when He was at His lowest point to be tempted by satan who offered Him literally everything the world has to offer in exchange for Him to simply bow down and worship him. Jesus Christ did not succumb to the pressure and never sinned one time in His life. After living a perfect life without even one sin, He became a perfect sacrifice, holy and acceptable to a perfect and holy God, worthy of being an acceptable lamb to sacrifice and thereby redeem all of our souls.

That is why we need Jesus Christ. We cannot make it alone in this world. We are tempted and we make mistakes. Satan is powerful and was created with the supernatural ability to know exactly what our weaknesses are, and when we are most vulnerable, he strikes like a rattlesnake injects us with his poison and we sin. Without tratment we will die from it.

The Bible is clear that no one on earth save Jesus Christ is without sin. Don’t try to face God’s withering judgment alone. There will be no gray areas or “little white lies” allowed. Ask Him into your heart today. Ask for forgiveness and repent, (or turn), from your former ways. The blood of Jesus, the spotless worthy Lamb of God can save us all from ourselves if we will only believe.

Mark 1:15
The time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God
is at hand. Repent and believe
In the gospel.